Public speaking skills and interviews

by: Ellen Egan

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I was conducting some interviews recently and I was struck by how important public speaking skills are in the interview process. After all, public speaking is, at its heart, one person speaking to one or many. An interview may be one of the most important public speaking engagements that you have. The fundamentals of good public speaking are also at the centre of a good interview.

1. Preparation. Anyone who has conducted an interview will tell you that it is obvious who as prepared for the interview and who has not. We can easily guess who makes a better impression. Before the interview be sure to learn as much as you can about your potential employer. Google is a great tool for this. Find out about the company philosophy and mission. Find out as much as you can about the future direction of the company. Learn as much as you can about the department you will be working with and the particular job you are interviewing for.

2. Audience analysis. I have gone into detail about audience analysis in previous blogs (just look in the categories). Once again, you will want to find out as much as you can about who you will be interviewing with, what their interests are in this position and customize your interview preparation based on this.

3. Prepare your presentation (your stories). Take a good look at the job description and think of the skills and competencies that will be required and desireable for the job. Then, think of examples in your past where you have demonstrated these skills and capabilities. During the interview you can use thes examples/stories to give a clear picture to the interviewer that you have the experience to be successful at the job.

4. Voice control. Work on your voice before the interview to be sure that you are speaking clearly, loudly enough and confidently. You don’t want a shaky and weak voice during your interview.

5. Non-verbal messaging and body language. You will want to appear confident, interested, honest, caring, etc.  during your interview.  You can give all of these messages through body language by sitting up straight, sitting at the edge of your chair, having good eye contact with the interviewer(s) and smiling.  Of course, you will want to take care that your personal appearance is professional.

6.  Practice .  The key to successful public speaking and successful interviews is practice.  Practice “mock interviews” with friends or family so that you have a chance to answer questions, weave your stories into the conversaion and get confortable talking about yourself.   The more you practice, the more comfortable you will be when the interview takes place.

A good resource which can help both with interviewing and with being successful in your current job is:

How to Be the Person Successful Companies Fight to Keep by Connie Podesta

To your success,

Ellen

Public speaking essentials – It’s all about your audience

by: Ellen Egan

I have been in public speaking for many years.  I have coached countless peole on how to improve their public speaking skills and how to develop individual classes, seminars, short presentations, etc.  I shouldn’t be surprised, but I still am.  I am suprised at how often peole forget what is at the core of their presentation/speech/seminar.

The Audience.  What your audience wants and/or needs to hear should be the foundation of what you present.  You can have the most well researched, fantastic, captivating, etc. presentation that the world has ever seen. But, if its not what the audience wants or needs to hear, it’s no good.

Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox.  I have done a set of articles on the subject of Audience Analysis (please see www.ezinearticles.com) and a series of blog posts breaking down the aspects of audience analysis and how important it is to developing a strong presentation. Please see blogs starting around end  July 2009.

It all comes down to four big questions.  Who, What, Why and How.

1.  Who -  Who are they?  Your audience- what age, sex, education, background, etc. Get a clear picture in your mind of your audinece and who they are and you will be much better able the understand their perspective and what they need from your presentation.

2.  What -  What is the topic?  What is it about this topic that is important to your audience?  What is the problem that this topic presents and what information are you going to provide that will offer a solution?  What do you specifically have to offer them (e.g. a solution, a service, information)?

3.  Why - Why are they there.  Why are they bothering to spend the time to listen to you?  Do they need this course for a degree or a certification?  Did thier boss require that they are there?  Are they trying to find the answer to a perplexing problem?  Why are you there and what do you want to get out of the experience?

4.  How - How are you going to deliver your presentation so that they can get what they need from it (e.g. Will you use graphs and props.  Will you do a song and dance.  Will you bring in other experts)?  How are you going to customize your presentation, based on the answers to the Who, What and Why, to ensure that they get what they want and need from your presentation.

If you can step up on stage with the full understanding of the perspective of the people sitting in the audience.  And, you have built your presentation based on the understanding of their wants and needs.  You are are 90% or more on the path to success.  No dog and pony show needed.

Keep coming back to these questions as you develop your presentation, and you are sure to prepare a successful presentation.  The added benefit is that you will feel much more confident as you step on stage because you will know that you are presenting something that your audience wants/needs to hear.

To your success,

Ellen